Contact and Surface 2013    

11th International Conference on Surface Effects and Contact Mechanics

pcr.jpg5 - 7 June 2013
Siena, Italy

 Overview

Contact and Surface 2013

The 11th International Conference on Surface Effects and Contact Mechanics was held in Siena, Italy at La Certosa di Pontignano of the University of Siena. The conference was organised by the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, represented by Prof Jeff De Hosson, and the Wessex Institute of Technology, UK, represented by Professor Carlos A Brebbia.

The conference series has an impressive history starting in Southampton (1993), followed by Milano (1995); Oxford (1997); Assisi (1999); Seville (2001); Crete (2003); Bologna (2005); The New Forest (2007); the Algarve (2009) and Malta (2011).

The conference aims to encourage international collaboration among the participants and the exchange of new ideas.

Central themes of the conference are surface, interfaces and their failure. In general structural components fail by wear, corrosion and fatigue, that is to say affected and initiated by the surface conditions. Consequently, an appropriate approach is to modify the surface layer of a base metal on contact, so as to provide an enhanced performance. However, in many cases it is the combined effect of wear and corrosion that is damaging and as a result this contributes to an even larger complexity. The complexity of the technological properties of materials and the economic aspects of function and wear justify an increasing research effort. Mainly an appropriate microstructure of a coating is an epitome in material design. This is because the connection of lattice defects and the details of the numerous interfaces, including the topology of the functions between the interfaces, determine the overall mechanical response.

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Delegates during coffee break
The surface treatment chosen should be suitably related to the problem under study. The necessary thickness of the coating depends largely on the applied loading and environmental conditions. The conference scrutinised novel protective layers for advances in sliding wear and low friction. The layers can be thin or rather thick because of applications, in particular in the automotive and construction industry.

The conference considered various new developments, both from an experimental and computational viewpoint. Special emphasis was given to the application of advanced theoretical and experimental approaches.

The papers presented at the conference are permanently archived in the eLibrary of the Wessex Institute http://library.witpress.com/, where they are easily accessible to the international scientific community. The book is also published in paper and digital format and is widely distributed throughout the world. Papers have been referenced by CrossRef and regularly appear in notable databases, including referencing and abstracting services.

 Keynote Address and Invited Presentations

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Prof. J De Hosson
Prof Jeff De Hosson then delivered a keynote address on ‘Size effects in Adhesion’ where he delivered some of the major research challenges in this growing field of research.

Following this presentation there were a series of invited lectures, ie

  • ‘Thickness and waviness of surface coatings formed by overlap: modelling and experiment’ by Vaclav Ocelik, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
  • ‘Material homogenization of metal-ceramic composites by NTFA’ by Eckart Schnack, University of Karlsruhe, Germany
  • ‘Flexible DLC film coated rubber: friction and the effect of viscoelastic deformation of rubber substrate’ by Yutao Pei, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
  • ‘A microstructural study on the high temperature oxidation, carburation and sulfidation of HK 40 and Incology’ by Ieda Caminha, Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia, Brazil
  • ‘The effect of different surface topographies on the corrosion behaviour of nickel’ by Derek Northwood, University of Windsor, Canada
  • ‘Production of slurry erosive wear behaviour of AI6061 alloy using a fuzzy logic approach’ by Mark Hadfield, Bournemouth University, UK
  • ‘Frictional heating calculations for polymers’ by Marcello Conte, Tekniker, Spain
  • ‘Statistical analysis of SEM image noise’ by Catalina Mansilla, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
  • ‘The use of nitriding to enhance wear resistance of cast irons’ by Derek Northwood, University of Windsor, Canada

 Conference Dinner and ISAC Dinner

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ISAC Dinner
The conference dinner took place in a restaurant in Siena renowned by the standards of its Tuscan cuisine. The restaurant has a panoramic view towards the centre of the town. The excellent fare was accompanied by the Chianti wines for which the region is famous throughout the world. A few informal speeches closed the banquet, expressing their satisfaction at the conference technical proceedings as well as the friendly atmosphere surrounding the meeting.

The International Scientific Advisory Committee met over lunch to discuss how the conference could be improved in 2015. They agreed that it should have more emphasis on tribology and approach some of our colleagues working in that field. A few more names were proposed for the committee and different locations discussed. WIT conferences department will proceed to investigate some of them.

 Closing of the Conference

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La Certosa
Carlos spoke at the end of the conference to thank the delegates for coming to La Certosa and for making the conference such a successful and friendly event. He explained that WIT Press is seeking to expand the number of titles published every year and invited the delegates to submit any proposal that they may have for writing either a monograph or edited books. He ended by inviting them to visit the WIT campus when they are in the region.

After that Jeff De Hosson said a few words, ending by hoping that the participants will consider attending the 2015 meeting for which the location and date will shortly be announced.

 

 Conference Proceedings

The proceedings of Contact and Surface 2013 - Surface Effects and Contact Mechanics XI, 336pp (Print ISBN: 978-1-84564-722-3; eISBN: 9781-84564-723-0) are available from WIT Press. Orders can be placed on the WIT Press web site at www.witpress.com or by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., telephone: +44 (0) 238 029 3223 or fax: +44 (0) 238 029 2853.

Papers from the conference will also be hosted online at the WIT eLibrary as Volume 78 of WIT Transactions on Engineering Sciences (ISSN: 1746-4471, Digital ISSN 1743-3533). For more details visit the WIT eLibrary at http://library.witpress.com

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